Promise
by leandra1709
Summary: After a soldier saves Judith during the Great War, she spends the next 10 years hoping to find him again


As the temple of Baction crumbled, Judith felt a heaviness in her chest. Her face remained unmoved, but her heart said otherwise.

The others mourned their fallen Raven, and eventually had to press on. She was the only one who stayed back, staring at the remains of the building.

"Judy, we're going now," Yuri spoke out to her.

"I'll catch up with you, just give me a minute," was her emotionless reply.

He shrugged and the rest of them moved on.

Judith's mouth twitched, and a hot tear rolled down her cheek. She could not believe he was gone. She did not want to believe he was gone.

She pushed her hand against her face, collecting the tear in her glove, then covered her mouth with it, "You idiot... You can't be dead. Not you."

Damuron had not expected to see a child on the battlefield. A young girl, looking about ten years old, was crouched on the ground, trying desperately to get away from everything. Her face was flushed and wet with tears.

Based on the large ears she possessed, she had to be Krityan. It made sense, since they were near Mount Temza, home to the Krityan.

"Not my problem," he muttered. Krityans were connected to the Entelexeia, the enemy he was fighting.

But something did not feel right if he chose to ignore her. A child is still a child, no matter what race, and if she died on this battlefield, he would feel responsible, now that he had noticed her.

He shook his head, "Not my problem," he mumbled again.

A shriek came from the girl as an explosion blew up near her. Damuron could see one of the knights ready another grenade to throw in her direction, not at her, but at an Entelexeia near her. He ran over to her and shielded her with his body.

"Damuron, what are you doing?!"

He uncovered his face from his arm, "What are you doing?! Don't you see this girl here?!" he yelled back. He turned to look at her face.

The young girl had large, innocent eyes and a face covered in dirt from the explosion.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"I-I'm looking for my friend..." she quietly responded.

He sighed. If her friend was a child, like her, they were probably already dead. He had not seen any other Krityan children, besides her, on the battlefield.

He put a hand on her shoulder, "Who is your friend?"

She had trouble speaking, shaking from terror, "...Ba'ul... H-he's an Entelexeia. Your friends are f-fighting him..."

A pang of guilt hit his chest. He did not personally have anything against the Entelexeia, he was following orders. This girl did not seem like an enemy, and certainly her friend could not be an enemy as well, but orders were orders.

He closed his eyes, weighing his options. He opened them again when he heard sniffling and saw the girl rubbing tears out of her eyes. He made up his mind.

Crouching next to her, he said, "Get on."

"H-huh?"

"Your legs are too small to run far, and you look tired. I'll carry you and we can find your friend."

She sniffled again and fixed her eyes on his face, "R-really?"

He originally was not sure if he should be doing this, but the look on her face made his heart feel warm. He knew he was doing the right thing, even if it was going against orders.

"Yeah. Let's go."

"Thank you..."

"Of course..." he paused, "I don't even know your name. Mine is Damuron. What's yours?"

"Judith."

A memory from ten years ago, but she could still remember it like it was yesterday. She never forgot the kindness of that soldier who saved her, bringing her to Ba'ul. The soldier who she found out died, but somehow came back to life under a new name. Part of her mission to destroy blastia was an attempt to try and find him again. What luck she had bumped into Yuri, who had become aquaintances with her soldier. She recognized him right away, even though he looked older and more weathered. She had hoped he would recognize her as the young girl he had saved and won the heart of, but he did not. Or, at least, he seemed not to.

Her heart felt heavy again when she came back to reality and looked at the pile of rubble that hid the body of her savior.

"You dummy," she whispered, "why did you have to die before I could tell you?" She turned and walked away, casting one last glance at the destroyed temple.

The group had made their way to Heracles, fighting their way through the enormous ship. Judith could not keep her mind off of Raven's death, but did not let her emotions show in front of the others.

Their progress was stopped by the Schwann Brigade who relentlessly followed Yuri no matter where he went.

The others in her group bickered with the soldiers, Judith tuning them out. She was staring at the ocean, when she heard a familiar voice.

"What sort of face do ya mean? Must be some poor sap with a pretty ugly mug."

Yuri confirmed who it was, "Raven!"

Her eyes quickly fell upon his figure. He was behind the soldiers, alive as ever.

Judith's heart beat fast, "It's you...!"

Raven gave a smirk and a salute, "Raven the Great, at your service."

A sob nearly broke out from Judith, but she swallowed it. She wanted to embrace him and slap him, all at the same time. She kept her distance, behind the others.

Raven took note of her emotionless gaze, "What? So happy ta see me, cat's got your tongue?"

He did not realize how correct he was. She did not say anything, but a small smile escape her lips.

Yuri began to question Raven's sudden appearance, but was nearly attacked by a soldier of the ship. Raven shot an arrow at the enemy, protecting his friend. Kind hearted, as always, just as Judith remembered him.

Raven gave his brigade orders to keep watch, which they obeyed and ran off to do. He turned around and gave another smirk, "There, that should do it."

Karol held his hands to his chest, "Raven..."

Raven sighed and turned to walk away, "Okay, it's up to you guys from here."

Rita's temper flared up and she put her hands on her hips, "How can you say that?! There's no way we cant trust you!"

Yuri shook his head and agreed, "Don't try to pretend you forgot what you did, old man."

Judith looked away, quietly. She had nothing to say. Even if she defended him, nothing would change the others minds.

Raven had a serious look on his face, "I see," he pulled out a sword, "Well, then do me a favor and put me down quick."

The sword was thrown to Yuri, who caught it expertly.

Judith's heart began racing. She wanted to grab it from Yuri. She did not want to lose him again, this time for good.

Rita looked disgusted, "What are you trying to prove?"

Raven chuckled and looked out to the open sea, "I didn't think I cared that much about livin', but before I knew it, I was waist deep in all this. If I have ta be done in by you guys here, well, there're worse ways I could go."

Judith tried to make sense of his words and actions. She remembered what kept him alive. "Now that you've turned on Alexei, your blastia could be shut down anytime. So you might as well die here... Is that what you mean?"

Raven's face looked aged with wisdom, "I've been a dead man for over ten years."

Yuri crossed his arms, "So what is a dead guy like yourself doing here, anyway? Did you come to settle your business with us? Brave Vesperia would be glad to finish that for you."

Arming himself with the sword, Yuri slowly walked over to Raven, a grim look on his face.

'No!' Judith screamed internally.

But Yuri was not a villain. He used his fist to punch Raven in the face.

Raven seemed shocked, "Ow!"

Yuri threw the sword to the ground and declared, "Your life belongs to Brave Vesperia now. From now on, whether you live or die depends on us." He turned to the others, "Right?"

Karol giggled, unable to hide his smile, "That's perfect, Yuri."

Judith felt a sigh of relief. She was not ready for Raven to leave for good.

Yuri walked away, as the others took their turns hitting Raven and slapping him. After he had been beaten into submission, Judith walked over finally. She looked upon his tired expression and extended her hand to him.

Raven cracked a smile, "Ah, thanks Judith, darlin'."

They paused as they held hands, both at eye level with the other. Judith felt her face become red, and before Raven could question it, she punched him in the face.

Raven yelped, "Oh, the brutality! How could you do me in like that, Judy, darlin'?!"

She turned her back to him, "I couldn't lose you again."

"Lose me... again? Ya know Yuri wasn't gonna kill me, right?"

"I know. That's not what I was referring to."

Raven rubbed his cheek gingerly, "You sure are full of mysteries, Judy-"

Judith could not hold back from crying, "You really don't remember?"

He was taken aback by her sudden change of character. She was normally stoic and serious. He had never actually seen her express any real emotions, especially not sorrow.

"Ah, darlin', are you okay," he reached his hand out to touch her shoulder.

"Damuron."

Raven froze.

Judith turned to look him in the eye, "You don't remember me from a past life?"

He tried not to remember his past lives. He was still trying to forget Schwann. But her voice, mixed with his dead name, brought back a memory. A memory of a small girl he carried to her dragon friend, saving her from dying on the battlefield.

"That's right," he said quietly, "her name was Judith."

They stood in place, quietly taking the other in. Even though her eyes were wiser and filled with tears, he still saw the innocent little girl inside. He could place the face to the name, to the memory.

Judith walked towards him, and embraced him, burying her face in his neck, "I've loved you since that day. I never thought I would see you again. I thought you died. But you came back, only to die again. Then you were back... again. And you were going to leave me again."

Raven felt another pang of guilt, same as the one he had felt ten years earlier. He had an answer for her though.

He placed a warm hand on her back. Judith felt elated and distressed at the same time. She held him tighter and took in his scent.

"Ya know, Judy," he said carefully, "I've wondered what happened to that girl I saved, so long ago. I couldn't get her out of my head, not even after I came back from the dead."

He ran his fingers through her hair, "Heh, to be honest, when I first saw ya again, as a grown woman, I felt like you were familiar somehow."

She pulled back and looked into his expression, wanting to know if he was telling the truth.

"If ya look at my history of datin', it's mostly women who fit the description of someone you might have grown up to be."

She shook her head, "I don't want to hear about that."

He had an earnest look on his face, "You need to. Because I've been looking for you this whole time." Scratching at his cheek, he continued, "I was going to find you after everything, no matter what. Now that I found you. I was hopin' to ask you out, after you got over hitting me for playing dead."

She had a sad smile on her face, "You dumb old man."

"So, whaddya say, after all this I pull out my savings back in Dahngrest and take you out to-"

He never got to finish the sentence before she placed her mouth on his. He was in shock, but quickly wrapped his arms around her and gave her a passionate kiss back.

Judith ended the kiss and said, "Once this is over, I don't want to lose you again."

Her words gave him more warmth and hope than he had ever felt before. He could feel a true love and affection coming from her.

"Heh, you might regret having me in your life."

She buried her face into his neck again, "Never."

"Alright, after this, let's make up for lost time."

She smiled and stepped back, "Promise?"

"Promise."


End file.
